Hello again,
We have received this report from Alex Magaga, Chairman of Lake Victoria Children. LVC also have a number of Ambassadors who live in many of the seventyfive villages on the island, and they look out for families and especially children who need special help.
The Story of Justine Lunzagi.
Justine is 9 years old. He lives in Nantare village on Ukerewe Island. Nantare is about two miles from the Lake Victoria Childrens centre. Justine lives with his dad who is dying of AIDS. Justine himself is HIV positive, and was infected by his mom either at birth or through breast feeding. His mom died four years ago.
Justine is now in Class 3 in one of the community schools. He misses school a lot due to falling ill very often. He is very clever and comes second out of fiftytwo children in his class in exams.
LVC discovered Justine through our programme HAP (Health Action Programme). He is on Antiviral drugs to improve his health and so is his dad. The problem is Justine does not have enough to eat, let alone nutritious food, to fight his illness. He sometimes goes to bed hungry and Antiviral drugs are too strong on an empty stomach.
We are trying to help him through our HAP but there is very little we can do ourselves,. He needs food to eat and be strong enough for the Antiviral drugs. He has visited our centre twice with the help of one of his dad's relatives, who cannot do much himself.
Justine's case is one of many exceptional cases we come across in villages and feel it is important we widely share his case. Is there anyone willing to support him? £30 will feed Justine healthy food for one month. His biggest dream is to be a Doctor, but unless he wins his battle against HIV with medication, his dream is unlikely to materialise.
Thank you Alex for this very moving story.
If anyone can help Justine, please do contact us at smilestotanzania@gmail.com.
Best wishes,
Diane and Derek
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